There be句型是英語中常用的重要句型之一,意為“某處有某物或某人”,句子的結尾往往帶有地點狀語或時間狀語,其中there是引導詞,本身沒有詞義,be是謂語動詞,be后的名詞或代詞是句子的主語。
如果There be句型是肯定句,其反意疑問部分用否定式isn't there?wasn't there?或aren't there?weren't there?如果There be句型是否定句,或者There be句型中有seldom,hardly,little,few,no,nothing,nobody之類的否定詞或半否定詞,反意疑問部分須用肯定式is there?was there?或are there?were there?如果There be句子中帶有否定前綴的詞,則該部分應看成肯定式,反意疑問部分仍要用否定形式。如:
There is a beautiful clock on the wall,isn't there?墻上掛著一只鐘,不是嗎?
There is little milk in the bottle,is there?瓶里沒有牛奶了,是嗎?
There was no time for the twins to go shopping,was there?這對雙胞胎沒時間購物了,是不是?
There was an unusual bike under the tree,wasn't there?樹下有一輛不尋常的自行車,不是嗎?